Final mehcommendations: 2008's best releases

Updated 12/11

In lieu of publishing reviews for the remainder of 2008, here is a list of 179 albums and EPs I believe are worthy of recommendation. I will update the list frequently, as I still have 48 albums on my iPod I haven't listened to yet. I also download an average of two or three new albums a day, which are then appended to my playlist. This list will get longer.

I also hope to publish some reflections on this year's new music over the next few weeks. I have a pretty hectic schedule ahead of my relocation, so I can't make any promises in this regard.

UPDATE: I am starting to add links to either my review or to another that more or less echoes my sentiments. If I have written a review of the release, I will link to my own review. If not, I will link to a positive review from a source I consider reputable.

Note: Some of these were released earlier than 2008 in limited tour editions, digital-only or outside the U.S. I have included them because they received their first physical release in the U.S. this year. Others were released for the first time in some form, but a domestic release is forthcoming. Expect to see these albums listed again next year.

Bold text indicates release was recently added to the list.

A Weather: Cove
Alias: Resurgam
Theresa Andersson: Hummingbird, Go!
Autechre: Quaristice
The B-52's: Funplex (AV Club review)
Nat Baldwin: Most Valuable Player (Pitchfork review)
Barr: Skogsbo Is the Place
Be Your Own Pet: Get Awkward
Beach House: Devotion
Andrew Bird: Soldier On (Pitchfork review)
The Black Dog: Radio Scarecrow (Tiny Mix Tapes review)

Black Kids: Partie Traumatic

Black Mountain: In the Future (AV Club review)
Blood on the Wall: Liferz
Bonnie "Prince" Billy: Lie Down in the Light
Brazilian Girls: New York City (Boston Globe review)
Breathe Owl Breathe: Ghost Glacier
British Sea Power: Do You Like Rock Music?
The Bug: London Zoo (Dusted review)
David Byrne & Brian Eno: Everything That Happens Will Happen Today (Tiny Mix Tapes review)
Brendan Canning: Something for All of Us... (Delusions of Adequacy review)
Pelle Carlberg: The Lilac Time (PopWreckoning review)
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
The Chap: Mega Breakfast
Vic Chesnutt: Dark Developments (Prefix review)
Cheveu: Cheveu (cokemachineglow review)
Clinic: Do It!
Cloud Cult: Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes) (The Sneeze review)
The Cool Kids: The Bake Sale
Julian Cope: Black Sheep (Playlouder review)
Crystal Antlers: EP
Crystal Castles: Crystal Castles
The Cure: 4:13 Dream (Sputnikmusic review)
Cut Copy: In Ghost Colours
Dead Confederate: Wrecking Ball (AV Club review)
Death in June: The Rule of Thirds
Deerhoof: Offend Maggie (AV Club review)
Deerhunter: Microcastle/Weird Era Cont. (Tiny Mix Tapes review)
Dengue Fever: Venus on Earth (Dusted review)
Department of Eagles: In Ear Park (Delusions of Adequacy review)
Destroyer: Trouble in Dreams
Detektivbyrån: Wermland (It's A Trap review)
DeVotchKa: A Mad & Faithful Telling
diskJokke: Staying In
The Dø: A Mouthful (Drowned In Sound review)
Dodos: Visiter
Dungen: 4 (Paste review)
Bob Dylan: Tell Tale Signs: Rare and Unreleased 1989-2006
Earth: The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull
Eat Skull: Sick to Death
Edie Sedgwick: Things Are Getting Sinister and Sinisterer
El Guincho: Alegranza!
Elf Power: In a Cave
Evangelicals: The Evening Descends
Evangelista: Hello, Voyager
The Faint: Fasciination
Firewater: The Golden Hour
Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes
Flying Lotus: Los Angeles
Josephine Foster: This Coming Gladness
Dan Friel: Ghost Town
Tobias Fröberg: Turn Heads
Fuck Buttons: Street Horrrsing
Fucked Up: The Chemistry of Common Life
The Futureheads: This Is Not the World
Gang Gang Dance: Saint Dymphna
The Gaslight Anthem: The '59 Sound
Girl Talk: Feed the Animals
Glasvegas: Glasvegas
Growing: All the Way
Growing: Lateral
The Gutter Twins: Saturnalia
Hauschka: Ferndorf
Head of Femur: Great Plains
HEALTH: DISCO
Hello Saferide: More Modern Short Stories From Hello Saferide
Herman Düne: I Wish That I Could See You Soon
High Places: High Places
The Hold Steady: Stay Positive
David Holmes: The Holy Pictures
Horse Feathers: House With No Name
Frida Hyvönen: Silence Is Wild
I Scream Ice Cream: Me Too
Ryoji Ikeda: Test Pattern
Iran: Buddy
Japancakes: Loveless
Japanese Motors: Japanese Motors
Jarboe & Justin K. Broadrick: J2
Jeremy Jay: A Place Where We Could Go
Jóhann Jóhannsson: Fordlândia
Kelley Polar: I Need You to Hold On While the Sky Is Falling
Kleerup: Kleerup
Koushik: Out My Window
Kutiman: Kutiman
Lambchop: OH (Ohio)
Land of Talk: Some Are Lakes
Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip: Angles
Leila: Blood Looms and Blooms
Dominique Leone: Dominique Leone
Jenny Lewis: Acid Tongue
Lil Wayne: Tha Carter III
Lindstrøm: Where You Go I Go Too
The LK: The LK vs. the Snow
Los Campesinos!: Hold On Now, Youngster...
Los Campesinos!: We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
Low Motion Disco: Keep It Slow
Luomo: Convivial
Lykke Li: Youth Novels
M83: Saturdays = Youth
The Magnetic Fields: Distortion
Man Man: Rabbit Habits
Max Tundra: Parallax Error Beheads You
Mirah: The Old Days Feeling
Monkey: Journey to the West
Mount Eerie: Lost Wisdom
The Mountain Goats: Heretic Pride
My Morning Jacket: Evil Urges
My Teenage Stride: Lesser Demons
Nadja: Desire in Uneasiness
Neon Neon: Stainless Style
Nomo: Ghost Rock
Conor Oberst: Conor Oberst
Of Montreal: Skeletal Lamping
Okkervil River: The Stand Ins
Oneida: Preteen Weaponry
Parenthetical Girls: Entanglements
Parts & Labor: Receivers
PAS/CAL: I Was Raised on Matthew, Mark, Luke & Laura
Pete & The Pirates: Little Death
Peter Bjorn & John: Seaside Rock
Plants and Animals: Parc Avenue
Poni Hoax: Images of Sigrid
Portishead: Third
Q-Tip: The Rennaissance
Quiet Village: Silent Movie
Radiohead: In Rainbows
Radiohead/AmpLive: Rainydayz Remixes
Rafter: Sweaty Magic
Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson: Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson
Robyn: Robyn
The Rosebuds: Life Like
The Ruby Suns: Sea Lion
RZA as Bobby Digital: Digi Snacks
Samamidon: All Is Well
Schlammpeiziger: Schwingstelle Für Rauschabzug
School of Seven Bells: Alpinisms
Shearwater: Rook
The Sight Below: Glider
Sigur Rós: Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust
Smart Growth: Surrey
Patti Smith & Kevin Shields: The Coral Sea
SoiSong: qXn948s
Solange: Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams
Spiritualized: Songs in A&E
Stereolab: Chemical Chords
The Streets: Everything Is Borrowed
Suishou No Fune: Prayer for Chibi
Susu: Win
Syclops: I've Got My Eye on You
Thee Oh Sees: The Master's Bedroom Is Worth Spending a Night In
Titus Andronicus: The Airing of Grievances
Tobacco: Fucked Up Friends
TV on the Radio: Dear Science
The Twilight Sad: Here, It Never Snowed. Afterwards It Did
Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend
Venetian Snares: Detrimentalist
Violent Femmes: Crazy (single)
Quinn Walker: Laughter's an Asshole/Lion Land
The Walkmen: You & Me
The War on Drugs: Wagonwheel Blues
Wax Fang: La La Land
The Week That Was: The Week That Was
The Weepies: Hideaway
Kanye West: 808s & Heartbreak
Why?: Alopecia
Wilderness: (k)no(w)here
Wolf Parade: At Mount Zoomer
Women: Women
Xiu Xiu: Women as Lovers

Hiatus

I am immediately suspending new mehcommendations until early 2009. I am going to relocate to San Francisco much more quickly than expected, so I have to devote my free time to moving preparations. When I resume, reviews will be longer and, hopefully, more useful to readers.

In the meantime, I will publish a list of the best releases so far this year and update it regularly. This will include releases I've already recommended and a number that I haven't yet.

PAS/CAL: I Was Raised on Matthew, Mark, Luke & Laura

As much as I love a simple, beautiful pop song, I'm a sucker for byzantine, schizophrenic compositions. I'm still scratching my head trying to comprehend just how PAS/CAL manage to accomplish both simultaneously. Their songs, regardless of length, change direction unexpectedly and frequently but seamlessly, never losing that sense of cohesion that tells you you're still listening to the same song. Imagine a sunnier Destroyer, using ELO as a touchstone instead of Bowie. It helps that PAS/CAL are interminably upbeat; their confections aren't weighed down by artiness or a sense that they're doing anything but having fun. This is an enjoyable, nuanced record with lots of twists that still surprise after many listens.

Eat Skull: Sick to Death

The first immediately noticeable feature of Eat Skull's debut is the overwhelming, unrelenting noise. Blistering feedback and static dominate throughout, but tracks like "Ghost List" and "Fade to Smoke" hint that there is a secret coherence lying hidden under the squall. A second pass through the album makes the picture clearer. For all their devotion to no-fi production values, Eat Skull are astonishingly melodic. Traces of surf rock and VU-style balladry belie their apparent abrasiveness. Sick to Death is one of those rare albums that sounds like a different record each time, and each of those records has a cryptic charm.

Technical issue

Today's post was delayed due to not having internet access last night at home. It will appear tonight, and tomorrow's post will appear at midnight as scheduled.

Firewater: The Golden Hour

Global influences are ubiquitous in indie music these days, and Firewater has helped make it that way. The Golden Hour is a travelogue of sorts, mining the popular musical forms of various regions for backgrounds against which stories of escape and refuge are told. Tod A. wields these cultural devices deftly, meticulously arranging them into gorgeous, gritty songs. The album vividly portrays the sensations of a weary expatriate. The Golden Hour shows that cerebral music needn't be dull or pretentious.

The Chap: Mega Breakfast

I can honestly say that Mega Breakfast is the oddest album of the year so far. The Chap start on a foundation of post-punk and krautrock, two forms which have come back into vogue in a big way, and then depart from that plane at a ninety-degree angle. The strange rhythms, non-musical sounds and often whimsical lyrics on Mega Breakfast stand in stark contrast to the utter humorlessness of other revivalist bands. It would be easy to believe that Sparks have had a large influence on The Chap's songwriting. Novelty alone doesn't make an album great, though, but their ability to craft both danceable and hummable songs do. There isn't a dud on the album. Mega Breakfast is both fun and challenging, making The Chap one of the most promising bands to emerge this year.

Alias: Resurgam

Resurgam finds Alias, the producer behind many of the best records released by the anticon. label, showing off his compositional skills in a wide array of electronic styles. His songs hover between the indie hip-hop for which anticon. is best known, glitch-hop, ambient and IDM. Artists always risk making a scattershot, incoherent record when trying to move in so many directions at once, but Alias deftly avoids this pitfall. Instead, his compositions emphasizes the elements the forms have in common, so the album never loses focus. Resurgam is one of the best records from anticon. in years, possibly in its entire history.

Solange: Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams

Whereas most soul and R&B records made after 1967 make me want to douse myself in gasoline and light a match, Solange Knowles' new record came as a welcome surprise. A major factor in my unlikely enjoyment of Sol-Angel is its rejection of the faux-soul sound that has dominated the past twenty or so years. Solange instead embraces sounds from the acme of Motown and the girl-group genre it inspired. The album isn't purely a throughback, though, as it also incorporates influences from more recent electronic music. "This Bird" masterfully appropriates a sample from Boards of Canada and "Sandcastle Disco" reminds me of Stereolab at times. Sol-Angel is a remarkable development from a young artist who is just beginning to move out of her more famous sister's shadow.

Bonus mehcommendations!

You may have noticed that I have published a couple of unannounced reviews this week. The year is coming to a close and I'd like to review as many albums as possible by Christmas. This means, hopefully, quite a few extra reviews that won't be put on the schedule ahead of their appearance.

Glasvegas: Glasvegas

Glasvegas is probably the most aptly named new band to emerge this year. Their eponymous debut inflates maudlin Glaswegian-ness and the post-punk revival sound to arena-sized proportions. The bloom is off the rose for peers like Bloc Party and Interpol, due in no small part to their failure to inject soul and intensity into their music. In contrast, Glasvegas remedy this shortcoming by dispensing with the spartanism of post-punk, favoring sentimentality and Phil Spector-esque production values instead. Almost wholely successful in its gargantuan ambitions, Glasvegas is an impressive opening salvo from a band that's too loud to be contained by any venue smaller than a stadium.

Venetian Snares: Detrimentalist

Admittedly, I have little frame of reference to evaluate Detrimentalist with. I usually find the more spastic and noisy genres of electronic music unbearably abrasive. Even worse, the records that aren't irritating are some of the most boring I've ever heard, i.e., the recent output of Meat Beat Manifesto. Perhaps Venetian Snares affect me differently than their peers because rhythm isn't treated as an end in itself. The time signatures are prominent, of course, but the beats often slow down or pause to make room for a fragment of melody. The tracks on Detrimentalist are distinguishable from one another in terms of tempo, mood and intensity. This alone makes it one of the superior records of drum 'n' bass and related genres, and the fact that almost all are gems puts it over the top for me.

The War on Drugs: Wagonwheel Blues

A few years ago, having taken notice of several then-nascent musical revivals, I predicted the entire previous century would come back into vogue in the first decade of the current one. With new bands under astronomical pressure to stand out, genres would rub against one another and fuse into strange new musical forms. Nothing as dramatic as the scenario I foresaw has occured yet, but there is ample evidence that many of the more interesting bands are drawing inspiration from intersections. Wagonwheel Blues, at times, sounds like a collaboration between Bob Dylan, Brian Eno, The Jesus and Mary Chain and Guided by Voices. Despite a vastly ecclectic range of sources, though, The War on Drugs have integrated their influences into a surprisingly coherent sound. It would not severely tax the imagination to picture this solid, frequently transcendant debut becoming the catalyst for a flood of ambient shoegaze Americana imitators.

Growing: All the Way

All the Way, Growing's second superb release of 2008, is measurably better than its predecessor, Lateral. Whereas Lateral was droning and austere, All the Way is more rhythmic. In a sense, the newest release is the closest thing to a pop record Growing will ever release. Repeating, arpeggiated sequences of notes sculpt something almost resembling a song, as if an extraterrestrial civilization had attempted to reconstruct music from Earth using only parts from Voyagers I and II. As the century unfurls, All the Way will either be a weird but beautifully accessible standout or the template for the pop music that follows.

Dodos: Visiter

There has been such a flood of new bands offering their takes on Americana in the past five or so years that most of them have begun to sound the same. Even the more gifted musicians often fail to create anything distinctive enough to be heard over the din. Visiter, fortunately, does not suffer from this failing. Dodos possess an aptitude for hummable melodies, beating most of their peers on this basis alone. Unlike all the other bands pursuing an indie-folk aesthetic, however, Dodos also lean heavily on precise clockwork rhythms that flaunt their acumen as instrumentalists. Hopefully, unlike the birds from which they took their name, Dodos won't become extinct anytime soon.

The Cool Kids: The Bake Sale

The Cool Kids take a simple approach to rap that hasn't been heard much in the past twenty years. Without the benefit of expensive studio production, they sink or swim on the basis of their beats and lyrics alone. It is a testament to their considerable strengths in these areas that they do much more swimming than sinking. The content and subject matter are simple, too, as The Cool Kids eschew heavy or emotional topics in favor of light fare. This decision pays off handsomely, resulting in a stellar, fun party record.

RZA as Bobby Digital: Digi Snacks

Digi Snacks continues RZA's urban sci-fi meditation on the internal struggle between opposing natures, with Bobby Digital playing the Hyde to his Jekyll. While Bobby holds the reins almost completely, RZA continually hovers in the background, tempering Bobby's single-minded aggression with softness. Similarly, the album's grittiness is balanced against hazy, surreal atmospherics. In one of the album's most surprisingly pleasurable moments, a woman who sounds just like (and very well may be) one of the Cassidy sisters from CocoRosie contributes vocals to the most tender rap song about fucking I've ever heard. On the whole, what could have been a ham-handed, gimmicky album is saved by a remarkable depth.

My Morning Jacket: Evil Urges

With Evil Urges, My Morning Jacket plunges deeper into R&B without losing footing in their well-established proggy Americana mode. It's a somewhat surpising move, but in retrospect it was prophesied by the adventurous genre-bending of Z. When the band gets carried away, like with the over-the-top falsetto of "Highly Suspicious", a solid Southern rocker kicks in just in time to prevent the album from jumping the shark. The schizophrenic tone of the album belies a subtle grace that takes repeated listens to perceive. Evil Urges doesn't approach the triumph of Z, but it still demonstrates a great deal of what makes My Morning Jacket special.

Illness

The yesterday's and today's recommendations were delayed by illness. I will have them up soon and tomorrow's will be up at midnight, right on schedule.

Black Kids: Partie Traumatic

Those who claim that good music must be original either harbor some woeful misconceptions about music or just don't enjoy very much of it. For one thing, all music relies on what has come before to a great degree. For another, innovation in music is usally accidental, arising due to imperfect mimicry, much like mutations in genetic code. And artists that set out to create something completely original usually produce something interesting but unlistenable.

Black Kids' debut full-length, Partie Traumatic, is great precisely because they are skillful imitators. They strip-mine the 80s for vintage sounds and combine them with current pop culture signifiers to make fun party songs. While the seams are mostly visible, Black Kids' surprisingly broad cultural vocabulary make up for obviousness. Reggie Youngblood's frequently dead-on impression of Robert Smith, while almost embarrassingly transparent at times, works well with Black Kids' fluffier fare. Partie Traumatic won't be anywhere near as influential as the material they bite, but it's tremendously successful at what it tries to be: one of the most memorable and fun indie pop records in recent memory.